Ali E

For me, again everyone is different, speech challenge was tied much more to surgery than radiation treatment. They removed nearly half my tongue (right side) and rebuilt it with a flap of skin and artery from my forearm. I was able to speak (kinda) where people could understand me, if patient, while still in the hospital. It was about a month before I tried out my speech in public with strangers. It worked better than I thought. And, I found most, if not all people, were quite patient with me. The hang up was probably more me and in my head.

I used family and friends as practice. I would call or facetime nearly daily with someone. It helped me practice and gain confidence.

I have improved my speech greatly since surgery and treatment. It was a long, slow process. I still have days where my slur/lisp seems worse. But, today, I also have days were people barely even notice it. Maybe I am tired, spoke a lot that day, slightly dehydrated, etc? I try to remember to do my tongue/swallowing exercises when driving too/from work. Did you work with a speech therapist yet?

Take a few videos of yourself talking and go back and watch them after couple weeks. I think we sometimes need that reference to see how far we have come.

Keep us updated!

Best
Nels